Beloved Pollock-Krasner House Director Retires: 'Years Of Dedication'

EAST HAMPTON, NY — Helen Harrison, director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center at Stony Brook University, is set to bid adieu: The acclaimed art historian is retiring after 34 years of service to the university, officials said.

Credited with having the Pollock-Krasner House designated as a National Historic Landmark, securing an endowment for the property, establishing the Study Center and more, Harrison leaves behind a new university-endowed fellowship for studies in abstract expressionism, university officials said.

"This fellowship will help bring more scholars in to use our resources and the resources that are available in this area," she said, referring to the bustling artists’ community of eastern Long Island. "This is very important, because the first generation of scholars is dying out, and we need to keep this as an active field of study."

So far, the House and Study Center have contributed five specialists, four conferences and a publication to the field, Stony Brook officials said.

Harrison’s fellowship, an annual three-month program, will attract new scholars eager to make a contribution of their own. Harrison said she hopes the Study Center will continue to expand its archive and offerings.

Prior to her tenure at Stony Brook, Harrison served as a curator at Guild Hall Museum, guest curator at the Queens Museum, and executive director of the public art preservation committee. She has also worked as an exhibition organizer and an art columnist, commentator, critic and feature writer for several news outlets including the New York Times.

Her career has earned Harrison dozens of accolades, including multiple awards from the Press Club of Long Island and a 2021 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service, Stony Brook officials said. Her love for art and writing inspired her to write a series of murder mystery novels, one of which won a 2019 Benjamin Franklin Gold Award presented by the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Harrison said she looks forward to publishing more in her retirement and remains a resource for the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center should her expertise be needed.

"Helen Harrison’s undertakings for Stony Brook University and the Department of Art have gone far beyond her duties as Director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center," said former Interim Chair and Professor, Affiliated Faculty for Art, Margaret Schedel. "She has served the department in every facet of its entity, and at the highest level. As she ends her service to the University I would like to honor her years of dedication to our mission."